Make your own Surly pine cone squirrel craft

Ashley Phipps is an Interior Designer, NCIDQ #25242, living in the Indianapolis area. She is also the author, designer and creator of the blog Simply Designing. You can follow Ashley at her blog, and on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pin...

Pine cone squirrel craft

Surly is a squirrel in the upcoming movie The Nut Job that constantly finds himself in trouble! Keep little hands out of trouble with this cute and simple pine cone squirrel craft inspired by Surly.

To create this cute Surly-inspired pine cone squirrel, you will need to gather these supplies:

Materials:

Pine cones

Brown chenille stems (aka pipe cleaner)

Brown bump chenille stems (aka bump pipe cleaner)

Large brown pom-poms

Small black pom-poms

Small wiggly eyes

Tools:

Hot glue gun (a low temperature is best for little hands)

Hot glue sticks (a low temperature is best for little hands)

Tweezers (optional)

This is a great craft to let your kids help create! Just be careful with the hot glue and little fingers. If you have young children, I suggest that the adult place the hot glue and allow the child to use tweezers to put the item in place. Older children can use a glue gun with careful supervision.

Pine cones can be gathered on a nature walk or acquired from a craft store. All other supplies can be found at any craft store inexpensively if you don't already have them at home.

First, you will cut your bump chenille stem to create a tail. Leave 1 end long so you can glue it into your pine cone. The other end should be trimmed right above a bump.

Hot glue the bump chenille stem into your pine cone where you want your squirrel's tale to be. Hold for a few seconds until the hot glue sets in place.

Then cut a regular brown chenille stem into 2 small pieces (about 1-inch long) for the arms. Hot glue the arms in place.

Next attach a brown pom-pom to the pine cone for his head using the hot glue. Allow the glue to set in place before proceeding.

Then use the hot glue and tweezers to apply 2 wiggly eyes and a small black pom-pom for the nose. Allow all hot glue to set for just a few seconds.

Be sure to take any hot glue "strings" off of your pine cone squirrel when you are all done using the hot glue.

Then you can shape Surly the squirrel's arms and tail to make them look a bit more realistic.

Feel free to experiment with your pine cone squirrel and make him (or her) your own. Surly can sit up straight or be on his belly. Let your kids use their imagination and have fun while creating their own pine cone squirrel to play with and enjoy!